Narendra Modi in Varanasi: PM Hits Back at Those Who Criticised $5 Trillion Economy Goal, Calls Them ‘Professional Pessimists’

In his second visit to the constituency ever since his win in the general elections PM Modi launched the membership drive of his party. He also unveiled a statue of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri at Varanasi airport.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hit back at those who criticised Union Budget 2019 and his government’s vision of making India a $5 trillion economy. “I am confident that we will achieve the goal of $5 trillion economy in 5 years, but some people ask what is the need for this and why is it being done? This is the section which is called ‘professional pessimists’,” the Prime Minister said while addressing BJP workers after launching party’s nationwide Membership Drive in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi.

He added,”Professional pessimists are different from common people. If you go to a common man with a problem, he will help you find a solution. But if you go to these pessimists people, they will turn it into a threat.”

The Prime Minister said that there has been a lot of buzz around the $5 trillion economy since the Budget was tabled in Parliament, and it is important to explain to people its meaning. He said to reach the figure, India’s economy has to nearly double. “There is a saying in English ‘size of the cake matters’, meaning, the bigger the cake, bigger the slice people will get. That is why we have goal of a $5 trillion dollar economy”, PM stated.

Elaborating Union Budget 2019, PM Narendra Modi said,”Yesterday on TV and today in newspapers, you must have heard&read about the goal of $5 trillion economy. It is very important for you all to understand what $5 trillion economy means and how it is connected to every Indian citizen.”

“The country was also run earlier, and also progressed. But now, New India is excited to ‘run’. This dream is linked to us becoming a $5 trillion economy,” PM asserted further.

Briefing further on the target set by his government, “If you saw the budget yesterday, you may have noticed, money allocations weren’t spoken out loud. They were there, but what the speech spoke about was getting to $5 trillion. In the next 5 years, our farmers will have a huge role.”

In his second visit to the constituency ever since his win in the general elections PM Modi launched the membership drive of his party. He also unveiled a statue of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri at Varanasi airport.

The prime minister was accompanied by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP working president JP Nadda and the state unit chief of the saffron party, Mahendra Nath Pandey.